The “Death in the Family” storyline featured Robin finding his birth mother in Ethopia only to discover that she had turned him over to The Joker. Both ended up being tied up in a warehouse set to explode unless Batman could save them. The cliffhanger inspired DC Comics to set up a toll-free hotline and ask the readers to call in and vote on whether or not the Boy Wonder would make it out of the warehouse alive.

The fans voted 5,343 to 5,271 to put the Boy Wonder down, and so he died in the next issue. However, Todd returned in 2005's 'Under the Hood' story arc as the Red Hood in order to seek bloody revenge against The Joker.